Molten substantially anhydrous magnesium chloride is a widely used electrolyte for the production of electrolytic magnesium metal; and is commonly derived from brine concentrates comprising essentially magnesium chloride a typical process for producing these brine concentrates from naturally occuring brines being disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,785 and included by reference. In brief, these brine concentrates are produced by subjecting naturally occurring brines to solar evaporation in a series of stages to form what is commonly referred to as a holding pond brine; and thereafter concentrating the holding pond brine in one or more stages to produce a brine concentrate consisting essentially of magnesium chloride, water and trace amounts of other metals and/or metal oxides including boron. This brine concentrate is then dehydrated, preferably by spray drying, and the substantially dry product melted to form a molten electrolyte.
Now it is well known that when a magnesium chloride electrolyte prepared from a brine concentrate and containing boron or a boron compound in proportions equivalent to as little as from 150 to 200 ppm boron is electrolyzed the magnesium metal does not coalesce readily but tends to form as discrete globules dispersed in the cell melt with the result that cell current efficiencies are lowered and significant amounts of magnesium metal end up in the cell smut.
It is important therefore to production of magnesium metal on plant scale that the magnesium chloride electrolyte be substantially free of boron or that the level of boron in the electrolyte be reduced sufficiently that its adverse affects on the coalescence of the magnesium metal and cell efficiencies be minimized.
Known methods for producing magnesium chloride electrolytes having low levels of boron include chlorination of the spray dried magnesium chloride concentrate either during melting of the spray dried material or subsequent thereto. However, removal of boron by chlorination is a slow and expensive process requiring long contact times in the melt cells and/or chlorinators, and the handling of large volumes of gaseous chlorine. As a result melt cell life is seriously shortened and catastrophic feeding and corrosion problems develope.
It is also known to reduce the level of boron in magnesium chloride electrolytes by extracting the boron from a magnesium chloride brine prior to forming the anhydrous cell feed material using liquid-liquid extraction techniques as described, for example, in British Pat. No. 1354944, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,493,349, and 3,433,604 wherein extraction of the boron is effected by means of an organic extractant. However, these and other known processes for reducing the level of boron in magnesium chloride brines are prohibitively expensive on a commercial plant scale due to large losses of costly organic additives; or the elaborate and expensive regeneration techniques required to reclaim these additives.
It is desirable therefore, in the interest of the efficient electrolytic production of magnesium metal from salt brines on a commercial scale to provide a relatively simple, inexpensive method and means for forming substantially boron-free magnesium chloride electrolytes from naturally occuring brines consistent with the overall economy of the process.